Complex Customisation Makes Aircraft Unique

The latest Empire Test Pilot School (ETPS) H125 helicopter was handed over during the Farnborough International Airshow on 17 July by Airbus Helicopters UK Managing Director, Colin James. Taking delivery was Nic Anderson, Qinetiq’s Managing Director, Air and Space and the Rt. Hon. Earl Howe, Minister of State for Defence, visited the aircraft and observed the handover.

Under the current modernisation programme, the world-renowned test pilot flight school, managed by QinetiQ, will receive four H125s, destined to make up the new generation single-engine component of the ETPS fleet. All four will be delivered following complex customisation by Airbus Helicopters’ UK design team, which equips the aircraft with, among other things, a 3-axis autopilot, dedicated communications equipment and a traffic awareness system.  In addition, the aircraft will be equipped with a Flight Test Instrumentation suite which, in a similar tashion to Formula 1 telemetry data, transmits data to the ETPS base at Boscombe Down in real time, allowing students, both in practical and class-based environments, to test and evaluate aircraft design and performance.